The operation to pull out a six-year old boy trapped in an abandoned borewell at a farm in nearby Sulikeri village was halted on the sixth day today as his mother led a protest by villagers seeking an end to it.

Hopes of rescuing a six-year old boy trapped in an abandoned borewell at a farm in nearby Sulikeri village faded on the fifth day of the rescue operation today with a health official expressing doubts about the chances of his being alive.

Rescue efforts were on for the third day today to pull out a six-year-old boy trapped in an abandoned borewell at a farm in nearby Sulikeri village, even as his father pleaded for stopping the operation, fearing the worst for his son.